I'm very familiar with a broken night's sleep, being an eternal insomniac. You did the right thing - therapists always told me never to do things that would kickstart the brain in those hours. Better to do something more relaxing to keep your mind and body in the sleep zone.
Urgh, not fun is it? I go in fits and starts when it comes to sleeping but it had been good until recently. Interestingly I've not been writing in my journal which I found really helped when I started. Will have to kick that off again and see what happens.
I've kind of given up having a reliable sleep pattern. But no, it's not fun. Nothing more frustrating than feeling tired as hell but not being able to fall asleep!
I try to journal regularly though I'm not as good with it as I should be. It does me good mentally so I try to do it at least several times a week. Easy to get out of that habit, I have to nag myself sometimes. 😄